"WHY ME??", "TRY ME!!" ~ From a Nomad's diary

A month before I left for a planned vacation with my husband (a vacation that did not happen though), a red tailed thrush had made a cozy nest in the shoe rack of the smaller balcony of our drawing room. It was highly inconvenient for us, and exactly otherwise for the beautiful bird who had laid two eggs, to keep them secure from on ground lurking predators like snakes. The eggs were oval, white and round. Every day, my son and I would watch them for hours as the mother came in more often to hatch on them.  And then, once hubby’s and son’s vacation started, we were off to our home, sweet home in Pune. Well, that is what we thought at the time oblivious to what we actually had in store once we got there.....

Needless to elaborate on the craziness of the one month we spent in Pune, as a lot of unexpected Pandora boxes popped up shocking us and quite unpleasantly, our vacation was not to start the way we thought it would. Sometimes certain instances make us look up above and question Him, “Why? Why? Why? Why is there no respite?”. We almost felt like Bruce sans the Almighty part. But then the saying, This too shall pass, kept us going. After facing a series of unforeseen challenges in the past few weeks, we drove back to our home sweet home with father in law. And then, as I entered my home, the large green leaves in my Tulasi, surprised me pleasantly. When we had left for Pune, both my holy basils were withering away and the gardener had told me bluntly that they would die. Surreal as it may seem, it was just about the time when we got the news that my father in law was seriously ailing, And now, as I saw them green with a lot of leaves, I was overwhelmed with joy that flowed out of my eyes incessantly. It was the first pleasant surprise I had in weeks. And then, we entered our home, dropped the luggage and fell on the sofa like some dead weight! A few minutes later, as we opened the balcony door to let some air in, sweet chirping soothed our ears. I looked around and found this red tailed thrush friend chirping at me loudly and looking through me. I was amazed and confused at the bird’s audacity to stand so near to me and chirp until the small round balls of feathers resting in a beautifully tailored nest in the shoe rack caught my eye. Babies! The eggs had hatched! And, they were two! Beautiful, innocent and divine. This was the second of nature’s attempt at reminding me that I ought to look at the silver lining surrounding the dark clouds. 

We helped the birds by not opening the balcony door at all, as the babies were fed and tended to by both the mother and the father thrush. However, we continued to watch through the netted portion of the door as the birds had developed some kind of trust. After a couple of days, we found the parent birds frequenting the nest lesser than often. They came over only to feed the babies. And one day, we found the babies alone in the nest. Of course, they were not abandoned as we noticed the parents perched on the electric wire and chirping continuously. It looked like the parents were shouting to their little ones,

"Try and Try! Try hard! 

Come out of that nest. Step into the big wide world.

Fly towards your freedom!"

And then, came the day when one of the babies took its first flight off the nest, zooming over my maid’s nose. My maid and I looked over fondly as the little bird fluttered a little for the first time before doing what it does best – Flying towards its independence. However, its sibling was still nestled inside, refusing to step out as the mother and the father came over and chirped ceaselessly. We were in a fix, as we could not use the balcony and the parent birds were still trying hard to get the lil one out. There was absolutely no development for the next two days as hot winds continued to blow. And then, yesterday morning we see that the baby bird was perching on the grill of the balcony. Although it had managed its flight out of the nest, it was still not willing to fly away. The parents with renewed hopes, started pushing the lil one further. After four or five hours, the baby moved from one end of the grill to the other, but was still not ready to fly. For the next five hours, the bird flapped its wings, stretched its feet and looked all around. And then in a split second, freedom came calling as it took its first flight. Somewhere deep within, peace descended on me and I smiled ear to ear for the first time in three weeks.

Yesterday, as my father in law, hubby, and I sat for our evening tea discussing about the birds, the discussion somewhere drifted to the intensely tense moments we faced in our lives, individually and as a family. We pondered silently at how things had spiraled out of control in our lives at some point and how they had finally begin to fall in place after seemingly incorrigible struggles. Nature, Destiny and the force that guides us in the hour of need always leaves for us, certain clues to solving the jigsaw puzzles that web our lives so intricately. Sometimes, these very instances also leave behind unseen battle scars on our souls as we embrace each new day with a brimming gumption, 

“What is the worst that could happen! Bring it on!”

As for these friends of mine, the holy basil and the red tailed thrush, they gave me all the optimism I needed at the moment.

The holy basil assured me saying, “Everything will be fine in the end”

And the red tailed thrush seemed to share its good advice, “You have to raise your son in a way, that when he becomes an adult, he is self dependent, confident and fearless about meeting his challenges and beating them with no qualms whatsoever. And as a mother, you will comprehend that one fine day, he will fly and make a world of his own, just like you did.”

P.S: This is the young friend who took his sweet time preparing before his flight to freedom.....